To many link bait is one of the best ways to promote a website and improve its rankings in the search engines. But before we can think about links bait we first need to focus on content, which is one of the most important aspects of any website, it’s what will bring traffic to your site and it’s what will keep them clicking through your pages and this is where we get the term “sticky”.
If you can create relative useful and informative content that can answer a question or solve a problem that people are having then it is inevitable that they will stick around and consume more of what you have to say. It is also much more likely that others will be more willing to link to us as what we have written can help them to provide a better answer for their readers. As you can see already that stickiness and link bait work in perfect harmony together, the next question is how do we build content around these principles?
Features of a Sticky Website
- Outstanding content. Content found on websites comes from various sources. It has to be original, and can either be written by the owners themselves, have it outsourced from a freelancer or have a member of the team write it. Whatever the source, it must be unique, consistently good, and constantly updated so that viewers keep returning to the site to catch up on the latest post.
- Adhering to timelines. Projects undertaken must be completed on time to build trust and credibility. If design and content creation are outsourced, then suitable margins become important so that there is no embarrassment due to delays.
- Delivering flawless products. This becomes important, since no one has patience with grammatical or spelling mistakes, shoddy pictures and unimpressive art work. Delivering less than the best would impact the success of the link bait, and lose credibility.
- Website brand. Link bait has to promote your website as a brand through character, quality and cohesiveness. It must appear genuine and sincere and above all authentic. Any trace of duplicity will compromise the reputation of the brand and it will lose its credibility in the eyes of the discerning but serious customer.
Getting Started
Once you’re happy that you content is stick and link worthy, the next step is to have it reach the viewer and creates an impact to such an extent that they feel obliged to share it with others. This would offset a chain reaction and lead to multiple viewership. To help facilitate this you need:
- Proper placement of content. Link bait should ideally be placed away from the main site on a blog or even a static page. It would be suicidal to place it in the commercial section, especially if it pertains to a commercial web property. A non-sale orientated pitch appeals far more and a blog proves effective in this respect. Moreover blogs offer the simplest tools for sharing the link bait with others.
- Ideal promotion sites. Some well-known sites like Digg.com, Reddit.com and other bookmarking sites are the best first bet for promotion using these highly trafficked sites can help to get your content picked up quickly.
- Incorporate features to ease sharing. By adding social media buttons from Facebook and Twitter makes sharing content with social groups quick and easy and if you can hit the right notes with these groups your content might just go viral.
- Reaching out to other bloggers becomes easy since there are thousands of blogs in the same niche if you feel that any of these bloggers may have a specific interest in what you have written then why not tell them about it.
Gaining Mileage
Once the link bait is on track and moving along predicted paths, there is lots left to do. The idea is to maximize the benefits to ensure that the link bait brings maximum returns. The following steps can prove to be helpful:
- Use existing traffic for the next launch. A successful link bait will rope in substantial traffic which can then be utilized to launch the next set, doing this will provide faster results with less work.
- Get as many links as possible. While creating infographics, many readers use the content but do not provide the links back to the creator. It is possible to trace users of the link bait content who have not sent the links with the aid of sites like Tineye.com, it is then up to you to ask the webmaster to credit you with a link.
Quantifying the Outcome
Once the link bait has come to the end of its life cycle it should now be time to track the results and see if was really worth all the effort. To do this use the following as a guide:
- The number of Facebook shares, tweets, digs, reddit votes received by your content
- Links can be tracked with the aid of Webmaster tools, Yahoo Site Explorer and so on.
- The links and the referral logs will reveal if any influences in your niche has picked up your content. If yes, this can be used to influence others.
The end result will doubtlessly be a successful website and hold promise for enhanced profits in business.
This is a guest post by Neil Jones, head of marketing for eMobileScan a leading providers of handheld computers and barcode printers, including the Zebra tlp2844.
I understand the concept of link baiting, and can certainly see why its important and understand its fruit, but while I feel that I am a creative person, really have a hard time generating that ‘something’ that will draw people to my online businesses. Maybe if we could see some more real world examples, of down-to-earth type businesses, as opposed to say the one-off type services or businesses with more ability to create their bait, or gimmick, which I feel is largely what bait is; gimmicky.